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NEW: PBSO probes report of man trying to lure Boca children into car

NEW: PBSO probes report of man trying to lure Boca children into car

Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies are investigating a report that a man tried to lure children into his car in a suburban Boca Raton neighborhood on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2018.

BOCA RATON

Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a report that a man tried to lure children into his car in a suburban Boca Raton neighborhood Saturday.

The children said they were riding their bicycles on Chipmunk Drive, off West Palmetto Park Road west of State Road 7, at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday when a man pulled up in a car, Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies reported.

The man allegedly told the children, one of them a 9-year-old girl, that he had a waterfall at his house and invited them to come see it. The children ran away and the girl told a nearby adult about the man, who then fled the scene, the sheriff’s report said.

It is one of three recent reports of men trying to lure children into their vehicles in southern Palm Beach County.

A Boynton Beach girl told police of a man who tried to lure her into his truck Tuesday while she walked near Bethesda Hospital East. The girl said the man offered her $200. No arrests have been made.

On Jan. 12, another man allegedly tried to lure middle-school students into his car in suburban Boynton Beach, near Somerset Canyons Middle School. The sheriff’s office declined to charge the man after speaking with him.

Kathleen Doherty, a resident in the neighborhood where Saturday’s incident was reported, said it happened on a cul-de-sac where children play all the time. Although her children are grown, she said her grandchildren visit her home often.

“Something like that has never happened. It was pretty scary,” Doherty said of the neighborhood, about a mile north of Logger’s Run Middle School.

Another resident of the neighbor, Rose Bruyere, said the kids who were lured by the man were brother and sister. She said she feels safe in her neighborhood despite the recent report.

“We have a really close-knit street,” Bruyere said. “Everybody looks out for everybody, and most people who have lived on our street have lived there for a very long time, since the 1980s.”

Bruyere said no one in the neighborhood has ever seen the man, who was described as having dreadlocks and driving a black four-door car.

“Kids in the neighborhood know what to do and feel like they can go to anyone who lives on the street if they need help,” Bruyere said.

Detectives spoke with the girl about the incident, and said they are doing extra patrol in the neighborhood and also asking for any witnesses or surveillance video. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 800-458-TIPS (8477).

HOW TO HELP

Police say that in addition to warning their children not to get into cars with adults they do not know, parents should teach them to:

— Notice descriptive stickers or other items on the car.

— Memorize the license plate, even if they can remember a few leters or numbers.

— Call 911 immediately and run away if anyone approaches them.

Police also want parents to be on the lookout for suspicious vehicles near bus stops and other places where children congregate, and to notify police of them.